Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Islamic terrorism affects everybody. Jihadists have indiscriminately targeted men, women, children, Christians, Jews, atheists, Rotarians, suburbanites, city-dwellers and other innocents. Logic would suggest that everyone should be serious about fighting terrorism, because everyone is a target, even moderate Muslims.

The radical Islamists ultimately seek to impose Islam upon the world and rule the world according to Shari’a law. Shari’a law specifically imposes unreasonable burdens upon women:

1. A man may easily divorce his wife, but not the other way around.2. Men may beat their wives if the wives do not respond to oral correction.3. Women must be covered in public.4. In court, a woman’s testimony is worth half the testimony of a man.5. To prove rape, there must be four Muslim male eyewitnesses, but if there is no conviction, the woman may be penalized for adultery. 6. Homosexuality s forbidden and punishable.

So, where are the feminists in the fight against Islamic terrorism?

To find out, I explored the National Organization for Woman (NOW) web site. I reviewed the NOW issues. I found exactly one of probably a hundred issues that addressed anything having to do with Islam. And that issue was about pressuring George Bush to get gender equality in the then-proposed Iraqi Constitution (It is: Article 14).

None of the others addressed or recognized any dangers to women from radical Islam.

Don’t they read the papers? They can’t exactly like Shari’a law. Is it that NOW leadership can’t see past their hatred of George Bush to recognize their own interests?

I urge women to contact NOW and tell them that radical Islam threatens women and that it should be made an issue -- NOW!